# Kwame Asare — Yaa Amponsah

Kwame Asare’s Yaa Amponsah (1928) is No. 1 in our Highlife ranking. The full verdict, and where to hear it.

- **Released:** 1928
- **Label:** Zonophone
- **On one list:** Highlife
- **Updated:** 2026-08-30
- **Artist:** [Kwame Asare](https://waxonia.com/artist/kwame-asare/)
- **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/track/kwame-asare--yaa-amponsah/

## What we say

### No. 1 in [Highlife](https://waxonia.com/genre/highlife/)

Recorded in London with the Kumasi Trio, and the first Ghanaian highlife on record. Its finger-picked guitar figure became a rhythm other musicians simply refer to by name.

## Analysis

10 sections, the first drop of 2 at 4:31, 56% of the way in.

- **Tempo:** 129.2 BPM — holds throughout
- **Dynamic range:** 7 dB — moderate range, typical of a modern master
- **Length:** 8:05

- `0:00` A · **intro**, instrumental — opens the record below its own average energy — playing: drums, bass, other
- `0:18` A · **steady** (bar 10), sung — holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling — playing: bass, vocals, other
- `0:46` A · **breakdown** (bar 25), sung — energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning — playing: bass, vocals, other
- `3:34` B · **steady** (bar 116), sung — holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling — playing: drums, vocals, other
- `4:04` A · **breakdown** (bar 132), instrumental — energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning — playing: drums, vocals, other
- `4:44` A · **breakdown** (bar 153), instrumental — energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning — playing: drums, other
- `5:40` C · **steady** (bar 183), sung — holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling — playing: vocals, other
- `5:56` A · **steady** (bar 192), sung — holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other
- `6:29` D · **peak** (bar 210), sung — sits at the top of this record's range — playing: bass, vocals, other
- `7:14` A · **outro** (bar 234), sung — the closing fall — playing: bass, vocals, other

**Drops** at 4:31 (bar 146), 6:03 (bar 196). A drop is a moment, not a stretch.

**What is playing.** Separated into parts by a source-separation model, so each lane is the instrument it names.

- **drums:** the drum kit, separated from the mix
- **bass:** the bass part, separated from the mix
- **vocals:** the voice, separated from the mix
- **other:** everything else — synths, guitars, keys, strings

Measured from the YouTube master on 2026-08-29. Section labels describe how the energy
moves, not musical form. Anything we were not confident enough to state is omitted
rather than hedged.

## Listen

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Kwame%20Asare%20Yaa%20Amponsah) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=F09XX2CgVc4)

---

Hand-curated by Waxonia. We host no audio; all links point to streaming platforms.